Just Like Jesus in Habits

Well, another thing I want to let you know is that, Lord willing, next weekend I will be preaching in Brazil. At a church there that is like our venue service, which is taking place right now next door in our venue service, they watch our sermon on video, but they have live worship and so on. Well, we've got a venue service in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which is one of the biggest cities on the planet. They watch our sermons subtitled in Portuguese each weekend and then they have their own live worship just like our venue service.

And so, Lord willing, I'm going to be there next weekend in Brazil preaching live and we thought, we're not going to do this, but for a while we thought it would be kind of fun to replace the screen that you see here with paper and have them start to project the sermon and then have me just walk right through the paper and go, "But I'm here live!" You know, but the news leaked out, so I'm not going to do that.

But check this out, because I'm going to be there and they sent us a picture of their church. I want to show them a picture of our church too, so I want everybody to smile and wave at your brothers and sisters in Brazil. Right? Keep going. Smile. You're not smiling. Smile and wave and say, "Hey, your brothers and sisters in Santa Cruz want to say hello to you." All right, I'll let you know how that goes in a couple of weeks.

And now, as we continue our January series, just like Jesus, I also want to explain this. It is a splint and yes, it's on my middle finger. And I have had to endure daily comments all week from my church staff. Like, "Hey, René, did that get sprained from overuse?" No, that's not why this happened. So let me explain what occurred here, and I'm going to hold my other fingers up carefully during this explanation.

I actually ripped my tendon on this finger, playing football, yes, on the field at Dallas Cowboys Stadium. It's an amazing structure. My wife, Lori, and I were there visiting her brother, who works at a company that's actually just across the street from this in Dallas. And we got a tour of the new stadium, and since there was no game that day, they were getting ready for the Cotton Bowl, but there was no game that day. So we got to goof around right on the field.

In fact, here's my wife and I standing on the infamous star in the middle of the field. And we got to stay on the field for quite a while, threw footballs around, ran routes, tried field goals, kind of played a little tag, you know, football game impromptu. And I remember thinking, "Check me out." I'm actually doing something super macho right now. My name may be a girl's name, but I'm very macho. A, I'm playing football. B, in Texas. C, on the Dallas Cowboys field. D, I just ate barbecue for lunch. I'm a macho man.

Well, pride goeth before a fall, because soon I was crying like a five-year-old girl. I jammed this finger pretty good on this pass that was caught for all time. This was the pass of destiny thrown by my wife's brother, and Lori caught this on her cell phone. If you look closer, you see how my middle finger is bent at an awkward angle, tendon ripped? And now I've got to have it in this splint for six weeks. And so I call this the Cowboys revenge. Literally giving the middle finger to the biggest Niner fan that was in Texas last week.

And so I was thinking, "How am I going to work this into the sermon?" You know? I could go, "Ever feel like life's just given you the..." And I thought, "No, I can't do that in church." So let me say this, ever feel like life's just throwing you a curveball? Who doesn't? Let's talk about it, grab your message notes. And today I want to talk about developing habits just like Jesus.

Why should you be interested in this? Well, life does throw you curves like this, right? Sometimes it does feel like life's giving you the finger, right? How do you handle it when everything goes upside down? And a lot of us, all of us, honestly, have had much worse things go on in our lives than just six weeks of a healing tendon in our finger.

Well, let me ask you this, how was Jesus able to handle all the stresses of his life? Because think about it, no human being has ever led a more stressful life than Jesus Christ, right? Constant requests, constant demands, people trying to trap him, things seemingly going wrong. Yet he never snaps at anybody. He never even seems like he's in a hurry. He's calm, he's focused, how?

Well, I think a lot of it had to do with his daily habits, habits that he urged us to imitate. Look at the top two verses in your notes. I'm going to put them on the screen as well. And I'd like us all to read these verses out loud together. First, there's John 13:15. Let's read this church. "I have given you an example to follow." That's Jesus talking. And in 1 John 2:6, it says, let's read this, "Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did." So today, let's look at how Christ lived, right? What were his habits? What were his customs? How did Jesus actually go through his day?

One important word of warning. Please watch your motives for doing the things I'm about to explain to you. In fact, why did Jesus develop godly habits? Chop these down in your notes. First, not to get the approval of God, right? "God said to him, 'This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased,' before he even started his ministry. God the Father loved Jesus perfectly, and God the Father loves you perfectly, too unconditionally. You are saved by grace. You don't have to practice more godly habits to get God to like you, and not to get the approval of others either."

The Bible says he didn't care what other people thought about him. And I hope you don't do these habits, hoping to get somebody else's approval. That's a trap, and not to even feel better about himself. If your own esteem of yourself is based on your performance, then you will always be unstable. And sometimes this third point takes another form. "Well, if I start practicing more godly habits, then I'll feel so good about myself, I'll be able to feel superior about other people." Right?

I remember watching an episode of The Simpsons, doing theological research, and Homer is talking to Ned Flanders, his hyper-Christian next-door neighbor, and Ned Flanders is saying, "I'm so excited, you know, because my family's going to Christian camp." And Homer says, "Christian summer camp? What do you do at Christian camp?" And Flanders says, "We learn how to become more judgmental." You know, that's not what this is about.

So why did Jesus do any of these habits to get strength to do God's will? It's the same reason he ate. The same reason he slept. The same reason he rested. He was a hundred percent divine, yes, but also a hundred percent human. And so Jesus needed these habits for strength, and so do you, and so do I.

So here's what I did this week. I've had a blast this week. I spent a lot of time looking through the four Gospels for how Jesus lived. What were his routines? What were his customs? What were his daily habits? And I found seven habits of Jesus. And as we enter a new year, I want to challenge you to start to develop daily habits like Jesus Christ.

And here's what's probably going to happen with this message. Probably a lot of us are going to go, "Yeah, that's a pretty good point. I probably ought to practice those things." But then we're going to walk out the door and things are going to distract us. The beautiful weather and so on, and it's going to kind of get erased from our heads. And we're not going to give it another thought.

But a few people here are going to go, "You know, I'm going to develop that one." René talked about seven, but that one is the one I really need to start developing in my life. And this time next year, here's what's going to take place. Some of you who do that are going to come to me and you're going to say, "You know those habits?" Well, I started working on some of those in my life, and I had some unforeseen challenges in the 12 months intervening. And that habit helped me out so much. I don't know what I would have done without it. I challenge you to be one of those people.

So what are the seven habits of Jesus Christ? Well, the first of seven is this, meditation. Spend time in prayer. You know, I used to think, "Jesus didn't even need to pray." You know, what's he going to say? "Dear me, I thank me for all my blessings." But if you look through the Gospels for what Jesus did habitually, you will notice he prayed all the time.

Now, don't flip your notes over yet. Look at those four verses I put under this point in the notes because I want to show you the different ways that he prayed. And I could have put dozens of different examples in, but look at this. First, he prayed alone. It says, "Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer, but he also prayed with others. He took on more than one occasion Peter, John, and James with him to pray." It says in Luke 9.

He also prayed for others in public. It says, "Little kids were brought to Jesus for him to pray for them." In Matthew 19:13. And he also loved to pray in beautiful spots in nature. It says, "Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray in all kinds of places, in all kinds of ways." What's that teach you? Live in an atmosphere of prayer.

Now, I'm very glad to hear that rustling of paper because that tells me you are flipping over to page two. And I want to direct your attention to that because here's the problem with sermons like this. Check this out. You can say, "Yes! Yes! I need to pray more spiritually this year. Prayer needs to have a bigger impact on my life this year." And nothing changes, except you leave feeling guilty. Why?

If you haven't yet, flip your page over and look at the box at the end of your notes, bottom of page two. A lot of us are doing New Year's resolutions around this time of year, right? How come some resolutions work and some don't? Well, I'll tell you why. Research has shown that successful resolutions must be specific, attainable, and measurable. Specific, attainable, and measurable goals. I call them spam goals. Spam, the S-P stands for specific, and the A, attainable, the M, measurable. Spam goals.

And let me explain this. They need to be specific. Like on the topic of prayer, you can't just say, "My prayers will become more spiritual this year." What does that even mean? It's vague. And they need to be actually attainable. Don't say, "You're right, René. I'm going to pray six hours a day." Most of us, that's just not going to happen. And they need to be measurable. And so you put all that together, spam goals. Specific, attainable, measurable.

For me, a bad spam goal related to prayer is, "I will get up an hour earlier to pray every morning." That's just not going to happen. Number one, I'm just not a morning person. I'd get up and then right back to sleep again. And two, there's just too many morning tasks at our house with kids in school, getting people ready, and lunches made, and breakfast made, and showered, and driven to school, and so on.

But a good spam goal for me related to prayer is this. "Every night, I will pray through the events of that day in review, bringing them to God in prayer." All the things that are worrying me before I put my head on that pillow. "And I'm going to look ahead to the next day and ask him for specific blessings for that day for at least about five minutes, somewhere around the end of every day." That's a specific, attainable, and measurable goal.

You know, so many times we try to change by biting off chunks that are too big. "I know, I am going to change this whole area of my life overnight." But change doesn't happen that way. That's not how you got into your existing bad habits, and that's not how you're going to get into good habits. Change happens incrementally. Walls are built brick by brick. So don't shy away from having some tiny goal because it'll be attainable, it'll be measurable, and you'll get some momentum.

For example, go back to the top of page two, and I'm going to show you how you can do a spam goal related to every single one of these seven Jesus habits. Habit number two is the habit of seclusion. The habit of seclusion, spending time alone. Jot that down. Doesn't this sound good? Shutting out the world to get alone time with God. Taking some time daily to get away from anything that beeps, pings, rings, honks, or says, "You've got mail."

Now, why do we need this? Would you agree that in our society we have an epidemic of hurry sickness? Would you agree with that? Hurry sickness is draining our bodies, depleting our emotions, sapping our spirits, stressing our souls, so we must consistently practice a time out. This is why Jesus as a habit withdrew. Look at Luke 5:16 again, this time in the New International Version Translation. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Or Mark 1:35. This is a fascinating verse. I'm going to read you the verse first, and then I'm going to give you the context around this verse, and you are going to see it with new eyes. It says, "While it was still night, way before dawn, he got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed." It circled the word secluded. Now, why did Jesus do this?

This is an interesting verse because this happens on the day following the busiest documented day of Jesus Christ's life. In Mark Chapter 1, right before this, on one day Jesus announces his ministry, calls his disciples, teaches in the synagogue at Capernaum, drives out an unclean spirit, heals Peter's mother-in-law. By this time, it's after sunset, and the town folk are bringing in all their sick for healing. It says, "The whole city was gathered at the doorstep." Busiest recorded day of Jesus's life, and he had a lot of busy days. And the next day, this verse happens. He starts the day in seclusion before God. Why? He needs his batteries recharged. And if Jesus needed that, how much more do you need it? How much more do I need it?

So think about a spam goal for this. Specific, attainable, achievable, and measurable. You could say, for example, "At least once a week, I'm going to take a half-hour walk alone, just to think, be with God, no iPod, earbuds, no cell phone conversations, just half an hour, at least once a week on my day off, say, 'And I'm going to be alone.'" Or, "Once a year, I'm going to take time to get away alone for an overnight seclusion. Vacation." I do this. I used to do it at the St. Francis Retreat Center in San Juan Batista. Has anybody else ever been there for a personal retreat? A lot of you have. It is a great place to go.

It's run by Franciscan friars, and so it's a beautiful, serene environment. It's not expensive. There's no televisions. There's no phones. You eat with the friars at their simple meals, and so it's a great place for a little seclusion vacation. But you don't have to choose a "spiritual spot." Last year I did this at the Motel 6 in Pismo, okay? Seriously. So it doesn't have to cost a lot. I went there alone and did nothing but walk around, think, took some pictures, enjoyed the beauty, and prayed.

When our kids were little, my wife especially needed these times. If you are the primary caregiver for small children or maybe an older person, you really need to get these times. And back in those days, you know, we really didn't have a lot of extra funds. So how were we going to do this? Well, some of you have heard me talk about what we called then "Lori days." Lori would leave the house before anybody else was awake, so she wouldn't get caught up in the vortex, you know what I mean? You got to leave before one person is up because if you don't, then you'll be there for another two or three hours. And then she didn't come home until every single person, and I mean every single person, was asleep in bed. She would literally drive slowly past the house. And if any lights were still on, she'd keep driving. Why? Everyone needs battery recharge time. What is your regular time alone? That was a habit of Jesus.

Third Jesus habit, the habit of connection. You'll notice the balance in all these habits. You need seclusion, but you also need connection. Make close friends. You know, I used to think that Jesus only called his disciples to be sort of employees, right? Worker bees. But the Bible actually says that there were two reasons that Jesus called them. Look at this verse. "He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach, that they might be with him." For years, I overlooked this part of the verse. Jesus was selecting friends, and he needed them.

For example, the night he's arrested, Jesus tells them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." I mean, think about it. What's this teach you? Jesus Christ, the Son of God, needed close friends. And two, he lets them know he needs them. He does not expect Peter and John to read his mind, which is a very good thing, because even when he said things clearly, they still didn't get it half the time, right? And at this point, many wives are elbowing their husbands. But that's not important now. The point is, let people know you need them. You need to take the initiative and don't just take, give.

Ask God every day for chances to build into your friends' lives and then look for those opportunities to be an encourager to them. Again, if Jesus Christ, God's only Son, needed friends, then so do you. Spam goal on this? How about at least once a month this year, I will call a friend and say, "Hey, let's go do something. Let's go for a walk or a run. Let's go see a movie or even let's just talk on the phone for a while." A lot of us have gotten out of this habit.

And then habit four might surprise you, but it's undeniable when you look at the Gospels that this was an intentional habit of Jesus Christ and one for which he got a lot of criticism. It's what I call the habit of extension. Get outside your circle. Every time you turn around on the Gospels, Jesus is walking right outside of the social circle that everybody else would expect that he would stay in. He is talking to Samaritan women alone at a well in the midday. Or he's talking to lepers or little kids or rich rulers or Pharisees or Roman centurions and many more.

In fact, I looked it up and counted it this week eight different times. Jesus is criticized for hanging out with "tax collectors and sinners." Those were two different groups of people. That's shorthand in the first century for political collaborators with the Roman government and prostitutes, tax collectors and sinners. Why are you hanging around with those people, Jesus? Clearly, this was intentional. This was a habit. So how about you? Are all your friends Christians? If you never have a conversation, unless it's with somebody who already agrees with you on every point, you're not doing this habit. Hang out with people who are not like you. Jesus did this.

So what's a spam goal example of this? It's actually not very hard. How about saying, "This year, I'm going to get involved with a group outside the church." Personal true confession time here. I fell out of this habit big time. It's very easy for pastors to live in an ivory tower where not only are all our acquaintances and friends Christians, they're all Christians who go to our church. So last year, I made a decision to change. And this is one of the reasons I've done two things.

I've gotten more involved than ever with Second Harvest Food Bank so that I could just get to know other people. And I met many people there who told me, "René, I literally did not know any Christians personally until you started hanging out with us here at the food bank." And I also became a member of the Aptos Chamber of Commerce, go regularly to their breakfasts, rubbing shoulders with different people, many tax collectors and sinners." No, just kidding. But don't make too big of a connection here. But... So maybe your spam goal is this year I'm going to get involved in a group outside the church like maybe a parent teacher group at the church that you're at, at the school that your kids go to.

Or maybe a dance class. There's a friend of mine who was in the first service who's in a hula dance group. And she's meeting all kinds of people who are not in her natural church clique. And she's been involved with it now for a number of years. And just in the natural course of their interaction, she's drawing them to Jesus. Now that doesn't work for everybody. For some of you, if people saw you dancing hula, it would actually drive them away from Jesus Christ. They'd move to Europe and become atheists. So you know who you are. And for you, maybe join the Rotary Club or something, but find some place where you'll extend yourself outside your normal circle. Come up with a spam goal.

The fifth Jesus habit, another one you really rarely hear people talk about. Devotion. And by this I mean go to church. I've noticed a trend. I meet so many Christians these days who seem to think that going to church is optional because they are more spiritual than church. That's the way it's expressed. Church, everything you hear there is so remedial. I've heard all those stories before. I've actually progressed beyond that. I'm actually more spiritual than all those hypocrites at church. It's boring.

Now of all the people who ever lived in human history, Jesus could have said all those things, right? But check this out. I didn't see this until I actually googled the words custom, habit, and Jesus to try to find out what does the Bible say were his customs, his habits. Never saw this before. Luke 4:16. "He went to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom." As was his custom. "Every Sabbath, Saturday, go to synagogue." Now do you think Jesus ever heard the rabbi teach something he knew already? You think he was ever tempted to go, "I've heard that scripture before. In fact, I wrote it!" Right? But he goes weekly. And if he did it, you need it.

And I don't know where you're at. I mean, you're here, right? But maybe you can set a goal in this area. Then sixth, the habit of memorization. And this might surprise you too. Internalizing the Bible. Jesus had huge sections of the Bible memorized. In fact, and I know this because I counted this week, over 30 times in the Gospels, Jesus says, "It is written." And then he quotes at least one verse, and sometimes a couple of verses, from memory.

Now, would you agree with me that this is a lost art these days? Memorization. We almost think it's Luddite, you know, like anti-technology or something, because we go, "I don't need to memorize it because I got my little portable brain with me, right? I mean, I don't need to memorize anything. Phone numbers, my calendar for tomorrow, people's emails, addresses, people's names. You know, what are my kids name? Just a second, you know? Because I got it all right here on my little portable brain. So why in the world would I actually have to memorize a Bible verse when I got it right here at my fingertips?

Well, let me explain it this way. My daughter Elizabeth is studying at Oxford this year. I don't know if I've mentioned that yet, but she is. Photographic proof here. But I learned from her that the professors there require students not only to study certain books, but to actually memorize long passages from them. And this is at a legendary educational institution, Oxford University, right? For example, if the students are studying English Lit, they not only study, say, John Milton's Paradise Lost, but they memorize whole long sections of it.

Elizabeth tells me that students at first, especially Americans, complain, "What? You know, this is a famous university. I had to do that in second grade. Why do I have to memorize something?" And in one book that Elizabeth has about Oxford teaching methods, the professor explains it this way. And I want to put his words on the screen because this is good stuff. Now remember, he's not talking about the Bible here. He's talking about English Lit. But think of how this applies. Because what you memorize by heart, you take to heart. And once you really absorb the words, the words become your own, then and only then can you mull them over on your tongue, appreciating them as you would good wine, enjoying them as the company of a good friend.

I love that. In fact, let me read that one phrase over again. After you memorize the words, then and only then can you mull them over on your tongue, appreciating them as you would good wine, enjoying them as the company of a good friend. It's really true. Try it with the Bible. Now you might be going, "I don't even know where to start." You know, I've tried. I cracked my Bible open and I memorized a page of begats or the part in the Leviticus about the oozing sores or something. I don't know what your time, where do I even go?

So flip your notes over to page three. And I gave you there on the left hand column, seven great options that we have here at Twin Lakes Church for you to get into the Bible deeper. But look at the right side column. There's lots of subjects with key Bible passages for you to memorize. Like if you're fearful, try Psalm 91. Need hope? 1 Peter 1:3–9. Do you worry? Matthew 6:25–34. So a good spam goal might be, "This year I will memorize one of these sections each month, one a month this year." Let me just tell you, it will stick with you for life.

It will become like that, you know, good wine or good morsel of food that you can just go, "Yeah." And you can really begin to savor it and it will make a difference for the rest of your existence. Let me tell you a story that illustrates that. One of my favorite pastors in Oregon was a guy named Ron Mayall and once he told a story about a saintly old woman who was gradually losing her memory. But throughout her life, this woman had cherished the Bible so much that she'd committed many verses to memory from her own worn old King James version of the Bible.

Her favorite verse had always been 2 Timothy 1:12, "For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." That's a great verse. I know whom I have believed. In other words, I don't understand a lot of things. I don't understand a lot of things about theology. I don't understand a lot of things about why bad stuff happens in life. "But I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed, the care of my soul unto him against that day until the day I die." And long after, great verse.

So she was finally confined to bed in a nursing home and her family knew she would never leave that nursing home alive. As they visited with her, she would still quote every time, 2 Timothy 1:12, "But with the passing of time, even parts of that verse began to slip away." And after a while, she remembered only, "He is able to keep what I have committed to him." And as her voice grew weaker, the verse became shorter. "What I have committed to him." And then the week she was dying, her voice became so faint that family members had to bend over to listen to the few whispered words on her lips. And at the end, there was only one word of her life verse left. "Him." And she whispered it again and again as she laid there on the threshold of heaven. "Him, Him, Him." It was all that was left, but it was all she needed.

Because all those years of incorporating that scripture into her soul had reminded her in that time of extreme tumult in her life that there was someone who she could always trust, someone who always loved her, him, him. Now, you're going to go through some tough times too. You're going to be on that threshold one day too. So why leave yourself without this resource? Get into this.

And then finally, the seventh Jesus habit, which is the habit of concentration, staying focused on God's purpose. Jesus was laser focused on his life mission. One example in Luke 4, he's teaching in a village and it says they tried to keep him from leaving them. But he said, "I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also because," watch this, "that is why I was sent." Circle that last phrase. That happens over and over again in the Gospels. Jesus is never distracted by other people's agendas or opinions of his life.

Imagine what it would be like to actually live your life like this. I was talking to my daughter this past week, right the day before she flew off. She had to go back to England. I don't know if I mentioned she's over there going to Oxford for it for a year. But and she said, "Daddy, what are you preaching on this weekend?" And I told her and she said, "Dad, that last point, focusing on your last mission," she said, "Imagine how liberating it would be to really live like that." I said, "What do you mean?" She said, "Dad, at the end of the day when I think back over my stresses," she said, "I realize how much drama I--" this is my daughter talking, "How much drama I manufactured worrying about other people's opinions and agendas. What do they think about the way I'm dressed? What do they think about my choices? What do they think about my political opinions? What do they think about that thing I said?"

She said it would just be so liberating just to say, "It doesn't really matter because I'm going to focus on God's agenda for my life." So it's a spam goal related to this. How about, "This year, I will write out a life mission for myself. This is what I believe God wants me to do with my life. This is the main thing, the important thing." You say, "I don't know. How should I know?" I used to get very hung up on this thinking, "Well, how do I know in my life it wasn't--" how do I know whether God wants me to say, "Work in a secular job and support missions with the money I make there," or whether he wants me to work full-time as a local church pastor or maybe work in Christian radio or maybe be a missionary? How do I know what my life mission is? And I was frozen into inaction. It was paralysis by analysis.

But you know what I feel like right now? I feel like pick one. Just pick a good, godly goal for your life because any one of those things is better than paddling around in circles aimlessly like most people in our society do. Just get focused and get somewhere. So look back at these seven habits. Imagine what would happen to your life if you lived like Jesus in your habits. These Jesus habits will help you deal with daily stresses, with problems, with difficult people. They'll expand your influence. They'll give you a greater sense of purpose.

But listen carefully. Please, as your pastor, I beg you, do not make the same mistake that I made related to these habits for years. And it's this. I would look at a list of the spiritual disciplines and they always include things like this, Bible memory and church attendance and quiet time. And I'd look at this list and I'd go, that's like arithmetic, right? It's like a long column of things. And when you add up all those things, the sum is what a good Christian life looks like. If you add up all of these things and I do all these things, then I am doing what God called me to do. That is an error.

Because think about this. Jesus never said that at the end of your life, you're going to meet him and he's going to say to you, enter into my rest. For I was a Bible verse and you memorized me. For I was a church service and you attended me. For I was a quiet time and you observed me faithfully. Now he's not going to say that. What's he going to say? For I was hungry and you fed me. For I was sick and you took care of me. For I was naked and poor and you clothed me. For I was lost and you sought me. That's what it looks like to be a person who follows Jesus Christ. All these things are fuel for that.

And I have to say I'm very glad, so glad to be part of a church where people get this. I want to show you some pictures. I just got in an email from Mary Masters who organizes the Bridge of Hope ministry here and she wanted to thank you for your contribution to the Angel Tree Project. Some of which went to Bridge of Hope people. Our heartfelt thanks, she says, to the generous people at Twin Lakes Church and all the volunteers for making it possible for our resident friends to receive Christmas gifts and cards.

I love these pictures. Angel Tree Gifts were delivered to Golden Age, Santa Cruz Skilled Nursing Center and Front Street Residential. They were so grateful. We continue to receive many thank yous from the residents and want to pass on their gratitude. A special thanks also to Aaron Welty for making personalized Christmas cards for all the residents. You truly make this world a better place and continue to be a shining light for Christ. She concludes it's making a big difference and the impact on these people's lives cannot be adequately conveyed in words.

And I got similar thank yous from Virginia Howard with the Prison Fellowship, Angel Tree Ministry and the Salvation Army too. It's reaching out. It makes your spirit come alive. Others of you will be experiencing this at Project Homeless Connect in April where you'll literally be washing the feet of the homeless or helping them get back into the system with ID cards and doctor's appointments. And if you're interested in that you can go to our website and click on local outreach and you'll see a link to sign up for Project Homeless Connect.

But listen, very important. If you try to do those kinds of things without daily habits like this, you'll just get exhausted and resentful. You know, what would you be like if you worked hard every day and you never took a shower? You'd start to stink, right? Well, these seven habits are like taking fresh showers in God's grace. When you do these things you're reminded God loves you. You're reminded you're saved by grace not works. You're reminded that it's God who empowers you to serve.

And unless you shower in God's grace and love before and after you serve, you start to stink. You start to stink of legalism and religiosity and an attitude of superiority or martyrdom or resentment and you start to burn out. So let me wrap this up. Seven habits, that's a lot to remember. And so here's how we're going to apply this. Right now I want you to take your notes and I want you to take a few minutes to circle the two points where you feel your weakest right now.

And to encourage you to do this, you know what it was for me? I circled two things. I circled the connection habit, making friends have totally fallen out of that this year and the memorization habit. Those are the two things I'm going to be focused on next. And so circle one or two that you want to have God's strength to focus on this year and then pray about a specific attainable measurable goal related to those two things that you circled.

And I believe that as a church, not just you as an individual, as a church, we will be amazingly strengthened in our service to the community and to the Lord as we focus on those things. And I want to invite you to do that as we enter a time of prayer and response. Dan and Heather here in the auditorium and Mike Conley in venue are going to lead us in a response song. And I want you to use this time to really think about how you will develop the Jesus habits this year. Would you do that? Let's pray together.

Lord, thank you for your grace. Thank you that we don't earn brownie points from you for memorizing verses or praying or anything else. That's not what we do these from for to get some kind of divine merit badge or something. But you have given us these resources so we can recharge our batteries and grow closer to you and then cleansed and strengthened by grace. We can serve you with joy. And so we ask that you would lead us in this growth now.

And I pray that if anybody is yet to commit their lives to you that they would right now. They just say that I want to live like Jesus, but I realize I'm powerless to do that on my own. I need you living inside me. Jesus the Spirit of Christ in me to empower me to live like this. So Jesus, I don't even understand completely what this means, but I want to receive you into my life as my Lord and Savior. Now. I'm ready for the adventure. I'm ready for the change.

Lord, I pray that we as a church would grow in these areas that you would strengthen us as a church to grow into a body of Christians who are just like Jesus and we pray this in Jesus name. Amen.